Piston ring



G. E. KENNEY PIsToN RING,

l Filed No'v. 1 1927 4 www a l /5 /7 Patented May 1, 192s. i

UNITEDsrATEs GEORGE r; 'xENnnin-or s'rnnmniaassacnnsnrrs, AssrGNon orONE-HALF To GALL n, nnnvrrson, orsonnvrLLE, nassaensn'r'rs.

` rls'ron RING, 7

Animation-mea Noymber 1,1927. sermrnqeaoaa- -Tliis invention relatesv to4a resilient piston-ring transversely divided atl one side and havingend portions normally sprung apart` bytbe'resilience of tl1e 1ing,fanda1 resilient 6- rmgshap'ed expander, also divided at one side andadapted to bear simultaneously on portions ofthe internalsurface of Ythe`1 'ng, vand 'o n'portions o f the -bottonL of a piston groove receivingthe ring, to radially expand "dotted lines in -Figuref'6. In tbisinstance, there are two end slots 14, closed by the end the ring andpress the peripliery thereof against the internalwall of d eylinder.

The object ofv the -invention is'to provide` a piston-ring andvan`expandertherefor, so formed that when combinedv and in use, the l5expander willnot only'expand 'the'ring radially, but alsoedgewise orlaterally,'and

press the edge facesof the ring against the sides of lthe piston groove.

Of the-accompan ing drawings 'forming a art of this speci cat1on,'-igure 'l-is a vperspective view of `:epistole ring and an expandertherefor, Constltuting the preferred embodiment of the invention.4Figure 2 is' an ,edge view "ofthe ring look? ingtoward thesideoppositethe split shown j in Figure `1.

Figure is alsection on line 3T3 Vof Fig Figure 4 showstheringfandlexpander' in '30 section on line 3-3 o-Figure 1,` anda portionof' -a piston, in ya groove ofwliich the ring is expanded edgewise.4

Figure 5 is a section on .urel'., a5 Figure 6 is a fragmentary view,showing une a-se rig.

looking toward the inner side o f 'the ring.

vention. v

Figure-8 is n fragmentary vlew, showing orti'onsof the Aring-andexpander shown y Figure 7 ,looking toward the inner sidey bythe cylinderwall, and the expander is-at the Sametime backed byg the bottom of the10o piston groove. "-.The expander is, therefore,

tensione@ and; not only acts to increase the Figure 9.

Figure 12 1s an 'of the ring and expander shownby The Esame referencecharactersindicate the i .sameparts'in all of thefiguresf..

.55 The ring shown byl Figuresfl to in- ,bledv preparatory Vto-insertion in a piston Y a portion of thering without the expander,

Figure 9 isa View similar to Figure 8,:A

clusive,'-is of -'resilientv` metal, and is trans; versly split at oneside, its end ortions v12,

12, being normallysprung apartl y the resilienc'eof th'e rino'. ln thering are formed a plurality of peri'plrera'lslots, extending panle()allel Vwith the edge or. side faces ofthe ring, and 'partially"subdividing ithe ring into twov zones 13, '13,- adaptd to be sprungapart, to Widen, the ringl atintervals, :1s-'indicated by portions 12,and an intermediate slot' 15 (Figure 2) ,closed by neck ortions 16, 16,

on the beveled` faces 17, and von the bottom 18of a ring-receiving'groove, -in a' piston 19 (Figure 4) Nin whichV the ring and expander areinserted. The expander, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, isa {iat-sidedl resilient metal strip of polygonal form, and v'includessalient bends 20, formed to ber on'thebeveled faces 1 7, as shown byFigures 3 and 4, and intermediate fiat portions 21u formed to bear onthe groove bottom 418. yThe split orAA division of the expanderisindicated at 22 in Fi frel.h l* When the I'rilig an expander areassem-V` groove, t erino' being expanded to its` normal diameter, thebends-20ct the expanderf piston oove, andthe piston and lring areinserte -in a'cylindenthe ring is contracted radial pressure of'thc ringonth cylinder l wall, but also acts by its'pressue on t c bev'-,

the ring, as' indicated by Figure 4; and rce:

'thef'side or edgeffa'es' of the ring against the sides' of vthe pistongroove 'The portions of the expander which bear 'on the'beveled j faces17.,`are preferably beveled, as shown by 1 19 Figur/s B, It, and 5, toconform to the bevel of said faces. i

In the. embodiment shown by Figures 7 to 12, the ring is transverselysplit at one side, and provided with the end portions 12, the zones 13,13, the slots 14, 14 and 15, and the necks 1G, connecting the zones, asin the embodiment lirst described.

The internal groove of the ring has beveled side faces 17^1`xvhich arewider than tho faces 17, and extend to the slots 1l and 15.

The expander is preferably made ofresilient wire and includes centralportions 24, lying in the center or bottom of the internal groove of thering, and oppositely inclined 'bends bearing. on the beveled faces 17a,each `ben'd 'including the inclined portions 25 and the outer portionsQ6. The split. of'the expander' is indicated at 27 (Figure 7).

Vhen the ring and expander are assembled prior to their insertion in apiston groove and piston, the expander portions 26 project from theinternal surface of the ring, as shown by Figure 12, the ring having itsnormal Width.. `When the ring and expander are insertedin a pist/ongroove, and

the piston is inserted in a cylinder, the eripander is. tensioned'bycont-act of its por-I tions 26 With the groove bottom, and contact' ofthe'ring with the cylinder wall, the

result being a' sidewise expansion of the ring, as before.

The dotted line X in Figure' 4. indicates Leef/,eee

by the resilicneebf the` ring, av plurality of peripheral slotsextending parallel with the edges or side faces of the ring andpartially subdividing the ring into zones adapted bo be sprung apart, towiden' the ring at intervals, there being two end slots closed by theend portions ofthe. ring, and an intermediate slot closed by neckportions ofthe` ring connecting said Zones, the internal face of thering having a groove oocxtensive with -the ring and provided withoppositely beveled side faces, combined. with a transversely divided,normally expanded, resilient ringshaped expander, having a-zigzag formvand adapted to bear simultaneously on said bcveled faces, and onthe'bottoln of it piston groove, the arrangement beingsuch that when'the ring and expander' are inserted in a piston groove, and the pistonis inserted in a cylinder, the expander exerts a radial expanding forceonl the ring, topress the periphery thereof against the cylinder wall,and alateral eX ending force onthe ring zones, to press t 1e edge facesof the ring against the sides of the piston groove.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

GEORGE F. KENNEY.

